Day 28: 48,009 Words

I can't believe we are all going to finish tomorrow! We are all amazing and I hope that we can feel overwhelmingly triumphant forever.  

So, you decided to lure us here to try to get us to get back together?” Isla wasn’t upset, exactly, but she was feeling uncomfortable, confused, and manipulated. “How much of what you have said this whole time has been true?”

“Unfortunately there is no stage adaptation of Persuasion, Theo,” James said sadly. “There is, really, a movie though, and your agent should get in touch with The Rock’s people soon to set you up for an audition. I’ve told him I’ve seen your work and that you would be a great addition to the project.”

Theo beamed with pride. 

“I’m also sad to report that The Rock’s one man show, Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Hitting Rock Bottom, is also not happening. That was actually his idea. I think he’s had that one in his back pocket for a while.”

Isla would watch the shit out of The Rock’s one man show. It was a terrible blow to find out that something that she didn’t know could exist only moments prior wasn’t happening after all. 

“But,” James said dramatically and sadly, “The Rock and Jason Statham really are feuding. That wasn’t made up. Toxic masculinity is tearing the giant muscular action star community apart. You two are a part of my plan to get them to resolve their conflict,” he added with a whisper. 

“This is the first I’m hearing about this feud,” Theo whispered back. “I feel so out of the loop.”

“You don’t even know,” Isla said, feeling exhausted. 

“I will be filling you both in on my plans, on a need to know basis,” James added. 

Isla rolled her eyes.

“But rest assured, you are both have small but pivotal roles in my scheme. You are doing the landscape of Jane Austen adaptations a significant service with your efforts.”

James turned to walk away. The pair watched him retreat, dumbfounded. 

Isla was feeling frustrated. She was so confused about what was happening—all of the deceits made her unsure about what was real and what wasn’t. She was exhausted from jet lag. And more than anything, she was exhausted from feeling like she was being manipulated. 

Normally, Isla would have stayed silent. She didn’t like confrontation, particularly with James van der Beek. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful that he had flown her over to London. But then again, why should she be grateful that he had flown her to London under mostly false pretenses?

“What?” Isla finally said. “So you’re just going to trick us into coming here by lying to us? By breaking our hearts by making us think that some fucking amazing shows are happening, when they aren’t? And then you get to just walk away, as if by bringing us into the same room we’ll realize that we’re in love with each other and get engaged? And then have The Rock be our ringbearer?”

James paused and turned to face Isla and Theo. He had a sad look on his face, a type of sad look that Isla had seen many times before when his plans for celebrity feud reconciliation were not working. 

This only softened Isla’s frustration slightly. Her anger was building, like a storm that’s just getting started. 

“Do you think that we’re just puppets that you can manipulate any way that you want, based on what you think is best for us?” she continued. “What about what we think is best for us? And for that matter, why is being in a long-term, committed relationship inherently best for us, even though we haven’t known each other that long and we are destined to live far apart?”

Theo was standing beside Isla silently, listening. She couldn’t read the look on his face. But it wasn’t really about him, anyway. It was about her, saying what she needed to say.

“I’m really sorry that I’ve made you feel tricked. That is not how I wanted to make you feel,” James said quietly. “I just wanted the two of you to have an opportunity to be honest about your feelings.”

“I know,” Isla said gently. “I know. And for what it’s worth, you were right about me, at least.”

“He was?” Theo was surprised. “You acted like you didn’t care that I was leaving because you thought that I didn’t care about you?”

Isla turned to face Theo. His face was so vulnerable, in a way that she hadn’t seen it.

“Well, yeah,” she replied. “You told me that you were moving to London like I was an afterthought. What was I supposed to do? Beg you to stay? That wouldn’t have made any sense, for so many reasons!”

Theo looked taken aback. “You weren’t an afterthought. I just didn’t want to look like an idiot. It was way too early to have any conversations about our future.”

“It was,” Isla agreed. “It sucked that you had to leave when you did, though.”

“Yeah,” Theo said sadly. 

They paused, self-conscious about where this conversation was going and that it was for some reason taking place in front of James van der Beek.

“I’m going to leave you two to talk,” James said, with only a hint of a smile. “But first, I want to tell you that I don’t consider myself to be a puppet master. I know that it doesn’t seem that way, but I wasn’t trying to force the two of you back together.”

“The fact that you lured us here to be serenaded by The Rock and the Rolling Bones really suggests otherwise,” Isla said.

“The Rolling Bones?” Theo interjected.

“I understand your confusion about them, I really do,” Isla said quickly yet sympathetically. “But we really don’t have time to address the existence of Labrador retriever-themed cover bands right now.”

“I am certain that I will remember to ask about this later,” Theo said, shaking his head. 

“My goal here,” James said, “was to get you in the same place so that you could have an honest conversation about your feelings. I’m sorry that my methods are ridiculous, and that they made you feel misled and confused. And I’m sorry that I’ve made you feel like I’m trying to force you back together, or that I think that the answer to everything is a committed, monogamous relationship. I’ve gotten the two of you together. Now you get to decide what to do. And whatever you decide will be right, I know it. I trust you two.”

Isla nodded at James. “Thank you for apologizing. I hope that you will consider my feedback in your future endeavours.”

“I will,” James smiled back. “I need to remember that even when my intentions are good, no one likes to feel manipulated. And that it can get in the way of healing.” 

He began walking out of the auditorium, but stopped short. “I know I’ve done a lot to you in the past few days, and that you are under no obligation to do anything for me. But since you’re both here—I really could use your help. I can do Project Vampyre to resolve the between The Rock and Jason Statham without you, but I don’t want to.”

Theo and Isla looked at each other. They didn’t know each other well enough to wordlessly read their faces. But they wanted to.

It was Theo who first cracked a smile.

“I’ve got to know what Project Vampyre is,” he tittered. 

Isla looked between Theo and James. She never could have imagined any of this. Mostly because she wasn’t literally insane. 

But now, this was where she was. This was who she was with. And it felt totally right.